An Election Day Carol

In the early hours of Election Day, before dawn reaches the nation's capital, Justice Anthony Kennedy is suddenly awakened by someone standing next to his bed.

"Get out of here or I'll call the cops!" the Justice shouts.

"Don't get bent out of shape," says the ghost-like figure.

"Who are you?" demands the Justice.

"I am the ghost of Election Day Past."

"Heavens!" cries the Justice. "Why are you here?"

The ghost does not answer but beckons the Justice to follow him.

He leads the Justice to Sacramento, California, the city where he grew up. The day is Election Day, 1957, the first time the youthful Anthony has ever voted.

"I look so happy," the Justice says, his eyes welling up with tears. "Everyone does."

"It was a time when people were eager to vote, a time when Election Day was a joyful occasion," says the ghost. "A time before all the corruption."

"What corruption?" asks the Justice, worriedly.

The ghost glowers at the Justice. "The corruption brought on by your decision in 'Citizen's United versus Federal Election Commission,' the ghost snaps. "You wrote the opinion that four of your fellow justices joined. It opened the floodgates to big money in elections."

"I don't understand-- the Justice cries.

"You decided that corporations are people under the First Amendment, and that independent campaign expenditures, even when made by giant corporations, don't give rise to corruption or even the appearance of corruption," the ghost says. "How could you have been so naà ¯ve?"

The ghost suddenly vanishes, and the Justice is back in his bed, trembling. He tries to calm himself. "Just a bad dream," he says.